Applications of capacitors

Capacitors have many uses in electronic and electrical systems. They are so ubiquitous that it is rare that an electrical product does not include at least one for some purpose. Capacitors allow only AC signals to pass when they are charged blocking DC signals. The main components of filters are capacitors. Capacitors have the ability to connect one circuit segment to another. Capacitors are used by Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM) devices to represent binary information as bits. A capacitor can store electric energy when it is connected to its charging circuit and when it is disconnected from its charging circuit, it can dissipate that stored energy, so it can be used as a temporary battery. Capacitors are commonly used in electronic devices to maintain power supply while batteries are being changed. (This prevents loss of information in volatile memory.) Conventional electrostatic capacitors provide less than 360 joules per kilogram of energy density, while capacitors using developing technology can provide more than 2.52 kilo joules per kilogram. In car audio systems, large capacitors store energy for the amplifier to use on demand. An uninterruptible power supply (UPS) can be equipped with maintenance-free capacitors to extend service life. Groups of large, specially constructed, low-inductance high-voltage capacitors (capacitor banks) are used to supply huge pulses of current for many pulsed power applications. These include electromagnetic forming, Marx generators, pulsed lasers (especially TEA lasers), pulse forming networks, fusion research, and particle accelerators. Large capacitor banks (reservoirs) are used as energy sources for the exploding-bridgewire detonators or slapper detonators in nuclear weapons and other specialty weapons. Experimental work is under way using banks of capacitors as power sources for electromagnetic armour and electromagnetic railguns or coilguns. Reservoir capacitors are used in power supplies where they smooth the output of a full or half wave rectifier.